Soaring into the Yass Prize: Open Sky Education’s Yass Prize Experience

The finalists for the $1 Million Yass Prize were announced in December in New York. While Soaring Education Services did not advance to this final round, we are incredibly grateful for the experience of reaching the semifinals and the opportunity to promote our work and mission on a national level. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making this recognition possible. It shows that our work is not going unnoticed. 

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The 32 semifinalists assembled in New York prior to the announcement to speak on a panel to share how they are contributing to education that is sustainable, transformational, outstanding, and permissionless (STOP). The Yass Prize provides more than $16 million in support annually to recognize educators who achieve and deliver education for children through the STOP principles. 

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Dr. Jack Preus, the National Director of Soaring Education Services, joined the panel of six semifinalists to share Soaring Education Services’ mission and growth with the Yass Prize Summit. 

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“We really believe in a full and lasting education, one where families have a choice to embrace faith-based educational opportunities in their community, build character, and have access to high-quality academics,” said Dr. Preus. “So for the last 20 years, we’ve been working to provide those options to the families and communities that we serve.”

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Dr. Preus also had the opportunity to present Soaring Education Services’ plan for growth at a Yass Prize Conference in Miami. Dr. Preus elaborated on Soaring Education Services’ proposal to launch Christian microschools in Arizona, in light of the state’s new legislation that established the nation’s first universal Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program. 

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This program provides public dollars for families for tuition or other qualified expenses. All 1.1 million students in Arizona are eligible to receive this funding. Soaring Education Services aims to create a model to allow families in Arizona to leverage this new school choice initiative to provide a Christian education for their children.

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Being a semifinalist for the Yass Prize means Open Sky Education and Soaring Education Services received $200,000 to expand its outreach with Arizona microschools.

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The entire Open Sky Education and Soaring Education Services team are incredibly honored for the opportunity to be able to compete for the Yass Prize. They applaud all of the Yass Prize semifinalists and the overall winner, Arizona Autism Charter Schools, for their work in revolutionizing education. 

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Click HERE to learn more about the Yass Prize Finalists.